London, United Kingdom. Opposition figure Jesse Norman said the UK exposed Cypriots to drone attacks by maintaining its bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia and leaving them undefended. He said the UK failed to come to Cyprus’ defence in time after a drone strike on the Akrotiri base.
Claims of delayed response
Norman, described as shadow leader of the House of Commons and a leading figure in the UK’s political opposition, told parliament that the Cypriot high commissioner and the president of Cyprus had publicly expressed disappointment and dissatisfaction.
He said the UK had exposed “their people and our people” to drone attacks as targets and had placed weapons systems on their territory after making undertakings to Cyprus over many years.
Norman said that when the conflict in the Middle East began at the start of the month, the UK “failed to come to their defence in time”. He described the drone strike on Akrotiri and what he said was a delayed response as “a disastrous failure of political leadership”.
Comments on readiness and HMS Dragon
Norman said the prime minister and cabinet knew, or should have known, for a full month that the United States was mustering forces to attack Iran and that an attack would follow.
He said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had said the UK had “pre-deployed” assets to the region, but alleged that he failed to give instructions in time to the navy to prepare HMS Dragon, failed to notify the Cypriots, and failed to warn allies and other partners across the region.
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, sailed from Portsmouth for Cyprus on Tuesday. Norman referred to arguments in the UK that the eight days between the drone strike and the ship’s departure was an unacceptably long period.
He said the sequence of events amounted to “a fiasco which brought shame and dishonour on this country”.
Reports about defence chief’s alleged remarks
Norman referred to British media reports about decisions made at the outset of the conflict by the UK’s chief of the defence staff, Sir Richard Knighton, who allegedly rejected proposals to deploy an aircraft carrier or other assets because “we have an aircraft carrier – it’s called Cyprus”.
He said those reports, which he said were leaked by anonymous sources within the British government, amounted to “a political hatchet job”.
What do you think the UK should have communicated to Cyprus after the drone strike on Akrotiri?
